Samantha Leger, Ph.D, RPP MCIP

Abstract: Despite the importance of elected officials in shaping transportation policies, there has been little direct research on their values and experiences. Understanding the values of elected officials is particularly important in the context of transportation equity, which is fundamentally concerned with the distribution of benefits across communities and geographies. This research draws on a survey and in-depth interviews with local elected officials in Canada to understand their experiences and how they view transportation equity issues. We find that elected officials have little direct experience with transportation barriers, with few experiencing issues such as unaffordability, disability, or harassment, and evidence that this influences their values related to equity. While there was widespread agreement with values such as procedural equity, there was limited support for prioritizing marginalized communities in transportation investments, and this support varied by experience and identities. These findings point to a significant disconnect between academic/professional discourses on transportation equity and the values of elected officials. This underscores the need for addressing political contexts in understanding transportation decision-making and offering deeper understandings of the motivations and values of elected officials.

Abstract: The predominance of automobile dependency in North America is associated with a host of negative health and environmental impacts and has sparked the promotion of low-carbon and active modes of transportation. Encompassing both priorities, electric-bicycles have become a popular mode of transportation in some parts of the world. While multiple studies have suggested older adult populations may be most likely to benefit from e-bike technology, few studies have exclusively focused on this demographic to identify the factors that may promote or inhibit e-bike adoption amongst this group. This study explores the potential for e-bikes to support independent mobility and active aging among the older adult population in Canada’s auto-dependent context. Guided by a conceptual framework for older adult mobility, this study used qualitative methods to gather perceptual and experiential data from 17 community stakeholders and 37 older adults in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario. The findings highlight the importance of cycling life histories, social connection and physical limitations to adopting cycling later in life. Specific individual and structural factors were discussed in relation to e-bike adoption including facilitators such as increased convenience, reduced physical exertion, reduced reliance on a vehicle and fun. Barriers included cycling infrastructure and road safety, regulation, and stigmatization barriers. E-bikes as a more convenient and supportive mode of transit for older adults is discussed alongside the importance of e-bikes as a replacement for traditional bicycles in a subset of this population.

Although walking is a longstanding field of study within urban studies– and more specifically, urban design– little research has specifically analyzed how socialness can impact the embodiment of the walk and the perception of the built environment; specifically, perceived walkability. Informed by interviews with members of walking groups in both Toronto (Canada) and London (United Kingdom), this research embarks a novel and relational categorization of forms of socialness in walking and values associated to walking together, as opposed to alone. Five relational categorizations are proposed within this research: passively collective, familiar faces, close-knit, group walk, and actively collective. It is found that socialness is not an outcome of walkability, but rather an intrinsic variable to perceived walkability. In order for urban designers to inform ‘sociable’ streets, they must consider the nuanced socialness of traditional walkability indicators and recognize how the various forms and values of socialness that exist within walking can affect the perception of the street. Specific recommendations are given to extracting the social value of local community knowledge in urban design interventions.